Compass Free Reviews

So many negative reviews, ouch... Here’s my take: this is free, and it works. The gray “shadow” moves around the dial VERY slowly throughout the day, so don’t expect CompassFree to ‘do’ something active, it doesn’t. As explained, orient your finger’s sun shadow over the gray shadow on the screen, and you will see roughly accurate cardinal headings (N,S,E,W) but not exact degrees. In a pinch, this will get you un-lost if needed. Works great on my iWatch gen 4 too. No need for cell or WiFi connection. Thanks, app maker!!

It is an experimental intelligence measurement system. If the 1 stars vs the 4-5 stars are indeed an measurement of those who simply cannot comprehend instructions, or choose not to, it is a sad commentary on the decline of our societies critical thinking skills. It would be interesting to know if the author is indeed in some psychological expermental field and/or a student of same. CompassFree is great though; I actually used it for real once and the measurement was accurate enough for me to get where I had intended.

Honestly, I'd rather get lost in the middle of Montana than rely on this compass to guide me anywhere. Whoever made CompassFree should consider letting a blind person revamp CompassFree, maybe it'll actually be effective. I read the directions and everything, it's just the most complicated compass you could possibly create. If you're lost and you have an iPhone, forget CompassFree and just refer to your maps app to get you where you need to go!

I think it’s great if you read the description. It can double as a sundial. Great tool for teaching kids how the earth works, doesn’t work so great on teaching adults to read. Disclaimer: doesn’t work very well on cloudy days... I can’t figure out why?

Really... all you haters!

I have smart devices so little or NO effort is involved in the use of them. To busy to stand in sun to set this up. Live in Minnesota rarely have sun

Does not tell you which way you are facing. It’s a compass to tell you where the sun sets so you know which direction to put your prayer rug. SMH!!

when do you include directions? This is horrid stuff. I am unable to use this,

I liked what AlieninMN wrote, very funny!

It doesn’t even do anything it is useless of all sorts

Didn't really work and was too much of a hassle.

Failures, all of you.

Doesn't work.

I loaded it and all I can get is the logo. NOTHING works!

Doesnt work

Doesn't work

Not worth it.

Trash

People writing negative reviews just do not understand how this compass works. Therefore, they think it does not work. It does.
It is a sun compass, not a magnetic compass. The shadow on the compass rotates around according to the time of day, as the sun moves across the sky. So why you put your finger in the middle of the compass perpendicular to the screen, your finger casts a shadow. Align your finger's shadow with the shadow on the compass. Now north will be pointing north, etc. It is not super precise and is not supposed to be. But it is plenty good enough for casual use. A couple minor complaints: I wish the name of CompassFree on the iphone would just say "Compass" rather than "Compa...Free". I don't know how to change the icon name of CompassFree so it isn't truncated with the dots in it. CompassFree would get better reviews if Masayuki did a better job explaining clearly how CompassFree works.

Rate CompassFree honestly, then multiply the number of stars you chose by 30 to get a very rough estimate of your IQ. For all those who claim it's frozen or doesn't work, slow down and read the instructions. Still having trouble, try a musical instrument because science isn't your bag. To all those 1 star reviewers, your best bet is just to ask someone for directions and stay in well populated areas. If you can't figure out this basic sun based approximation tool, or slow down enough to read, you have no business using a magnetic compass either - buy a GPS with a motherly voice that says "you are here." Apologies to the author for the preponderance of ignorance in these reviews. You have written a clever and elegant app., given it away for free and this legion of fools protest the fairness of this transaction. "It doesn't even work at night!" Neither do solar panels or Baywatch, does that mean both of those are useless? Note: You should implement correct DLST if it is indeed off.

Works well for an iPhone 3G. The author doesn't go into much detail on what data s/he is using to calculate the shadow, but it's probably a combination of date, time, and GPS coordinates.
I was under the impression that an app needs to ask your permission before using your "current location." So either CompassFree doesn't need your latitude and longitude, or it's getting your location without permission. Something to think about.
I'd like to see a GPS-based compass that can orient based on direction traveled: pick a point in the distance, start the compass tracking you with GPS, walk toward the point, then when you've walked far enough for CompassFree to tell your direction of travel, you can hold the iPhone in front of you facing toward that point, and CompassFree would point an arrow toward true north relative to the direction you've been traveling. Still not as easy as an iPhone 3G-S, but at least those of us with an old phone would have something that would work on a cloudy day or at night! Maybe in the next update....